Chapter 663: Turning the Virtual into Real

The sudden change startled everyone present. Void Supreme, in particular, wore a face so grim it looked like water could drip from it.

The Void Realm was his territory, completely cut off from all external perceptions. Logically, no one should have been able to find it, let alone enter. The outside of the Void Realm was more fragile than its interior. To break through the Void Realm from the outside, one's cultivation would need to be at least at the level of a One-Qi Venerable, which is late Tribulation Transcension. He sensed the flashing mark on the Fuling sisters' palms and understood. The opponent had left a mark on the two sisters and used it to track him down.

Although he didn't know what the Twin-Birth River was, or the sisters' connection to it, since they had entered the Void Realm, they would leave their lives here! Anyone who entered the Void Realm might learn about his nascent Dao Fruit's ability, so they absolutely could not leave! If his nascent Dao Fruit's ability were exposed, his opponent would have corresponding countermeasures, greatly diminishing the advantage of his nascent Dao Fruit in the future. Regardless of whether this tall, thin 'bamboo pole' was in late Tribulation Transcension, peak Tribulation Transcension, or even a Half-Immortal, he was confident he could keep him here!

“Twin-Birth River?” Lu Yang heard the familiar term and asked Immortal Buhuo, “Is that the Twin-Birth River you created, the one where drinking its water leads to twins?”

“Were the Fuling sisters born after their mother drank from the Twin-Birth River?” Lu Yang recalled the Fuling sisters mentioning that their mother had gone to Gulinyu Temple to seek a child from a master named Yuxin. The process of seeking a child was unknown, but she eventually gave birth to the Fuling sisters. So, did Master Yuxin give the Fuling sisters' mother the water from the Twin-Birth River to drink?

“Now that you mention it, it’s quite possible.” Immortal Buhuo exclaimed softly, scrutinizing the Fuling sisters, but couldn't discern anything.

“Immortal, can’t you tell if these two sisters are products of the Twin-Birth River?”

Immortal Buhuo rolled her eyes. “Who could tell that? It’s not like I gave birth to them.”

“However, if these two girls are truly connected to the Twin-Birth River, it might be possible to find the river by tracking them.”

“How would one do that?”

“That’s quite simple. This immortal can find it by casting a minor tracing spell. However, only this immortal can use that method; the tall, thin 'bamboo pole' who just appeared certainly cannot.”

“Then what’s his method?” Lu Yang secretly glanced at the two figures confronting each other in the air. Both were arrogant individuals confident in their own strength, so it likely wouldn’t be resolved with just a few words.

“Beings born from consuming the Mother-Child River and Twin-Birth River waters share a common characteristic: after death, their souls transform into ethereal energy, returning to the river and becoming a part of it—a phenomenon often referred to as 'fallen leaves returning to their roots.'”

“However, the prerequisite is that these beings die peacefully.”

“Why is there such a prerequisite?” Lu Yang didn’t understand.

“Life begins without distinction between good and evil, and the Mother-Child River and Twin-Birth River must maintain absolute purity. If there are regrets or resentment before death, it would pollute the rivers, affecting subsequent beings. That’s why this immortal added such a restriction.”

“I see.” Lu Yang nodded. It seemed Immortal Buhuo had given careful consideration when creating the two rivers.

“This thin 'bamboo pole' likely intended for these two girls to die happily in their dreams, at which point their true spirits would return to the Twin-Birth River. However, he had only just left the mark and hadn’t prepared to make the girls enter their dreams before this 'Void' fellow dragged him into the Void Realm as well.”

Immortal Buhuo’s guess was correct. Void Supreme, upon seeing an outsider trespass, was filled with murderous intent, and the tall, thin 'bamboo pole' was no better off. He had expended countless efforts to find the Twin-Birth River. After awakening, he heard that Master Yuxin could help with conceiving children and realized Master Yuxin knew the location of the Twin-Birth River. Unfortunately, Master Yuxin had already died of old age by then, making investigation impossible. He could only settle for the next best thing: finding the last Twin-Birth River twins, the Fuling sisters.

Killing the sisters directly would cause their true spirits to carry resentment, preventing them from returning to the Twin-Birth River. Yet, he couldn’t wait a hundred years for the sisters to die of old age. Moreover, as Twin-Birth River twins, they were blessed with great fortune and weren't easily killed. Therefore, he could only arrange for them to die in a dream. He found the sisters and planned to have them live out their lives in a dream tonight, falling asleep and dying within it. Unexpectedly, before nightfall, this incident occurred.

This was the Twin-Birth River, a creation of an Immortal, a legendary object, an ancient treasure, made by Immortal Yingtian. Its value could rival an immortal artifact, encompassing Immortal Yingtian’s supreme divine abilities and the Dao charm of heaven and earth. Anyone who blocked him from acquiring the Twin-Birth River would be his mortal enemy!

“I'm taking these two people,” the tall, thin 'bamboo pole' said coldly, not bothering to show Void Supreme any respect.

Void Supreme was enraged by the 'bamboo pole’s' commanding tone. “Fellow Daoist, you hold me in utterly no regard!”

“Are you releasing them, or not?” The 'bamboo pole' showed no courtesy to someone obstructing his opportunity.

“What if I say no?!”

“Then let our abilities speak for themselves!”

Both had their pride and refused to yield an inch. Moreover, Void Supreme had never intended for the other party to leave alive.

“Myriad Creations!” With a thought, Void Supreme conjured a dazzling array of magical treasures, nearly a hundred different types. Each artifact was imbued with potent, incurable poison; even a tiny speck meant certain death!

“Void Collapse!”

The space beneath the tall, thin 'bamboo pole’s' feet twisted like a swamp, impossible to break free from. Faced with the various magical treasures, he had nowhere to dodge! The Void Realm was Void Supreme’s territory; he could control it as he pleased!

The tall, thin 'bamboo pole’s' brows furrowed as he faced the deadly, retreat-blocking attack. He hadn't expected his opponent's ability to be Void Creation. He softly uttered, “Enter the Dream.”

As the words “Enter the Dream” were spoken, the entire Void Realm plunged into a hazy, dreamlike state, as if everything was illusory, yet also real. Everyone felt as if a veil had been drawn over them, their thoughts sluggish. Even One-Qi Venerable was slightly affected, though he quickly regained his senses. Only two people present remained unaffected: Void Supreme and Lu Yang.

“Immortal, what’s happening?”

Immortal Buhuo displayed an amused smile. “Interesting. It seems this 'bamboo pole’s' nascent Dao Fruit is related to dreams. He has now merged the Void Realm with a dream. All of you are simultaneously in a dream and in reality.”

“If this were outside, all he could do is pull everyone into a dream. But this is the Void Realm, not a true world, so his nascent Dao Fruit’s ability can be further leveraged, allowing dreams to directly influence reality. He’s not far from reaching the realm of ‘turning the illusory into real.’”

“That’s not even the most interesting part. Do you know what is?”

“What is it?”

“These two individuals’ nascent Dao Fruits, one creating a void realm and the other creating a dream, both belong to the ‘turning the illusory into real’ lineage. And no immortal has ever emerged from this lineage.”

“Do you remember why Qilin Immortal, and Lianyi and Xiaoling had a great battle?”

Lu Yang’s pupils contracted as he grasped Immortal Buhuo’s meaning. “Are you saying only one of them can become an immortal?”

“Precisely. It’s a battle for immortality, a fight to the death!”

One-Qi Venerable, a beat slower, also realized this was a dream, and his heart suddenly skipped. He didn’t know what the battle for immortality truly entailed, nor that these two were locked in a fight to the death, but he had deduced the identity of the tall, thin 'bamboo pole.'

“A dream… a nascent Dao Fruit of dreams. Could he be Nightmare Supreme?!”

Nightmare Supreme, a figure from the late Great Qian Dynasty, possessed a nascent Dao Fruit of dreams, and once vied for supremacy with the First Emperor Yu, but ultimately lost.